Day 4 — Seven Days of Easy Christmas Cards, Black Ice

I had issues making the beginning of the video, sorry…and for some reason, my camera made clicking noises throughout the video…how embarrassing!

I’ve seen this technique done many times and wanted to give it a try. I wasn’t sure if it was easy, but trust me, it is….

You’ll definitely need Staz-On in Jet Black….and if you buy it, you need to buy the re-inker as it dries out faster than any other ink I’ve ever used. The beauty of Staz-On is that you can use it on other materials, glass, wood, etc., but it’s not kid friendly, and is permanent…Here’s a link to it. http://tinyurl.com/yb439fgy

I started with (on the silver version) a piece of DCWV Metallics silver paper cut to 5 x 5″.. Take the edge of your Staz On pad and wipe it across the paper in one direction. You want it to basically look like you’ve swiped it across the paper and leave lines that are in one direction..Once you choose a direction, stick with it….then once you’ve covered the paper enough for your satisfaction, rub the pad along the edges so they are all inked as well.
I used a Stampin’ Up stamp from a set called A Beautiful Season.
Here’s a link to one I found on Ebay, and they had several available there. http://tinyurl.com/yatykb7d

When using Staz-On, always keep the lid on it when it’s not in use, and don’t get rid of the little plastic cover that comes inside the lid, as it keeps the ink from drying out….Don’t use clear acrylic stamps with Staz-On, as it will stain them and you won’t be able to clean it off. If you use Staz-on cleanser or Hero Arts cleanser on an acrylic (clear) stamp, it can ruin the stamp, so stick to red rubber stamps when using Staz-on.
I stamped the deer/trees stamp with the stamp facing up and holding the paper over it with one hand and rubbing with the other.
Once it is dry, (or you’ve heat set it) you’ll want to rub your Versamark or similar embossing ink padover the entire surface of your project then cover clear embossing powder over the front and heat set it.
I put fun foam in black behind the image, trimming the foam so it is smaller than the paper..You can also use foam strips or foam dots instead. I used a piece of black velvet ribbon that’s probably 1/2″ wide and wrapped it around the top of my image and used the Tonic Funky Glue pen to glue it.. The card base is 5 1/4″ wide by 10 1/2″ tall, scored at 5 1/4″, to make a square card. I had to hand make an envelope for this card. Here’s a video that shows you ways to make your own envelopes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cnJEe3xwMU
The fine tip applicator bottle I bought is available from Aliexpress or ebay.…type in henna bottle and it should come up…here’s an example of one that has a closure for the tips. http://tinyurl.com/ya6ks7tn
The sentiment is from the Stamps of Life Christmas kit I bought from HSN.com with the Christmas treeon it… I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink and put clear embossing powder on it and heat set it. I used two Spellbinders layering dies to cut and layer the sentiment.
The gold version is a 4 x 4″ gold metallic paper and the stamp is from the same stamp set….The background paper is black Recollections heavyweight cardstock that is 4 1/4″ x 8 1/2″ scored at 4 1/4″ with the same ribbon and sentiment.